Dreadnought Garage

[KLO101489]

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This will be a journal to chronicle how my garage develops. I moved to the Bay Area from the East Coast in 2014, and six months ago moved into a studio apartment that has an enclosed garage. I have been itching for a few years to work on projects again, so I have decided to take this opportunity to jump on something.

Near the end of 2015, I acquired a '77 Honda CB750F that I will be restoring/modifying. First, however, I will need to outfit this garage as a workshop.

The image above is how it started. The garage is actually a two car garage, with two swing up doors, divided by a cheesy make-shift wall the landlord put in. What I end up with is a small one car garage space to work with.

As I am starting completely from scratch, I will be sourcing everything (tools, machinery, supplies, etc...). I have a vision in my head of what this could look like, it'll be fun to see how it unfolds.

This is my blank slate to do with as I wish. This will be a pure for purpose workshop. This is Dreadnought Garage.

 

[Bib Overalls]

I would be cautious about spending any real money on a structure that someone else owns. With the exception of paint, just about everything that you put in should be removable / mobile.

One problem with apartment garages is the electrical service. Is the power to your garage on your meter or the apartment building's "common area service." I don't see any outlets in your garage which is common in apartment complexes that provide a single light fixture in their garages. Because they pay for the electricity they make it hard for the residents to do what you want to do.

So, the first thing you need to do is find out where the garages's electricity comes from, how much you have, who pays for it, and what upgrades are possible.

Automotive work does not require the power that woodworking or other hobbies might but you still need outlet power to charge batteries, energize corded power tools and drop lights. That would be the minimum and you would probably want a drill press, grinder, shop vac, air compressor, and possibly a welder.

Now is the time to find out if your garage can support this demand or if it can be economically upgraded to meet your needs.

 

[KLO101489]

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